Monday, February 21, 2011

LLC 5th year birthday special 22nd March 2011


Five years is a long time indeed, most bands don't last that long, hell most marriages don't, but Long Live Comedy has been with us a whole 5 years. Five years of Callum, Pete and Al and although Al and Pete have taken a back seat as of late, they joined everyone in the night for the festivities.

The place was rammed! Close to 100 punters in. George Zach was Mc-ing this occasion of course, we wouldn't expect anything else. Gavin Webster was up first, a true gent and one of the brightest comedy personalities in the business, let alone the north east. He mainly did new stuff, commenting 'I did better than even I thought I’d do' modest to the end. After more fictional ex talk from 'even George' was Michael Shields. Who's made quite a name for himself around these parts with his mix of puns, witty lines and physical comedy. He didn’t seem to be phased by the massive audience or his onlooking son, always interesting to watch.

After the first break Andy Fury took to the stage bemused by the vegetables left by Michael. Dynamite new material from the big guy, improving to the nth degree since he started on the scene with some particularly funny lines about fruit juices. Nicola the part Greek Lovett followed Andy, ,with a much improved performance from her first few gigs less than a year ago. Edgy stuff. Co club founder Callum Cramb took the stage next with his alter ego Al Key. Courageous as he tried his greatest hits and misses, which actually worked quite well, if inspiring a lot of “ohhhh” moments, the best moments in comedy if you ask me!

After the final break Kai Humphries hit the stage, another act who started at the club and has still gone onto to having a lot of attention and success on the circuit. Appearing on the Comedy Central channel. Yes LLCs own bona_fide famous person. Kai Performed another great set as usual.

Finally up last was John Scott who has mucked in helping the club along right from the very beginning. Still coming back and offering his services for free despite winning the Scottish act of the year award, his presence is always a joy in the club. Another blinding set of hits with some new stuff to boot. Here's to another 5 years!

LLC 8th Feb 2011

LLC 8th February

Massive crowd tonight the third bumper crowd in a row, nice to see people leaving the house, despite the drab weather. Dan's last Mc slot at LLC before jetting off to the Australian festivals where he's as famous as Harold bishop. Dan baring his trusty Leather jacket looking like an older version of the guy in Greece. Dan imparted relationship advice on the crowd, before bringing on the first act Phil Harker. Phils polite stage persona is refreshing, his interesting foreign accent was awkwardly funny, he brought vibrant energy to the stage, but was only on a few minutes. Short , but sweet. James Christopher came up next, club veteran came armed with ginger jokes, snappy lines the usual self depreciative qualities a charming Yorkshire man indeed.

Dan quizzed the audience on sex knowledge, very surreal. Nick Hall up first looking nervous, but rising to the challenge of the stage. Snappy lines, feel the heat of the stage, talking satire and the Vatican. Sharon Race up next veteran female LLC gigger with a mix of satire, old and new material. Phil Golder Not to be confused with Howard Lee (though apparently us baldy's all look the same!) More satire, human feeding habits, a little scary standing in the shadows, but it really suited his style. Bang on form, working with the crowd spreading his worldly bleakness.

Callum Cramb up after the final break. Football based comedy, experimenting with some new material. Ian Todd up next with what he says is his last ever comedy gig, lets hope not. A regular of the club over the last few years his quirky style is like no other. Energetic, retro old and new observations of weirdness, looking like a mad professor. He'll be missed. One of his best gigs. Jack Gardner up next with his league of gentleman-esque comedy. A newcomer to the solo stand up scene having performed with the sketch group The Animals Of Butterbridge for the last few years. Weird, eerie and inappropriately wrong! With lots of unconformable laughter from the audience following his material. Observations comedy of things that have never actually been observed, which seemed to be a running theme tonight. With his dark overcoat his suspect puppetry and his odd poems he looked very much like a man having a break down on stage. Another bumper action pack week at LLC!